Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. I also have no affiliation nor ownership of Star Trek. This collection is mine, as is Duke.

Okay, first some backstory here. For the past month, I've been mapping out this new collection that will be titled T-Minus One Year, which is pretty much what it sounds like. This will be a collection of self-driven shorts—much like my first collection, Good Enough for Me—that covers 52 weeks of the lives of the Restoration Committee leading up to the climax story of my Alliance-verse, title still pending. Every character in that story will have his/her own plotline going on, which has to be done carefully, which is why it's taking me so long to outline it. However, the prompt for this chapter beat me to the punch of one of the plotlines! And no, that's not a spoiler for T-Minus One Year, think of it rather as a tease XD

Anyway, congratulations, you guys are ahead of the curve! Enjoy.

..:-X-:..

007 – Live Long and Prosper

(For The Sacred and Profane; Prompt: 'A pregnant Tifa and how Squall takes care of her')

"—if you call now, for just 29.99—"

"—Mix the ingredients until you get a fine sauce like this—"

"—Here, we see the tiger in its natural habitat. See how it stalks its prey—"

The disjointed statements and abrupt cut offs in dialogue weren't what dragged Leon out of sleep, but it was what confused him enough to open his eyes. What had actually awoken him was when he rolled over, and his hand found Tifa's side of the bed cool and empty. This had become a common occurrence at night, as the growing baby in Tifa's body pushed on her kidneys, forcing her to take bathroom breaks at all hours of the night. As they neared the arrival of their first child, Leon had started becoming more unconsciously aware of Tifa's every movement, so the fact that she had managed to sneak out of bed, go into the living room, and turn on the television was surprising.

Climbing out of bed himself, Leon ran a hand over his face and walked toward the bedroom door. He staggered down the hallway of the second floor to the small den, where the telltale lights from the television were refracting off the wall. He blinked rapidly to adjust to the brightness of the screen as he stepped into the den. He could see one of Tifa's feet hanging off the armrest of the couch, which had its back facing him. Duke, their reddish-golden retriever, was curled up in front of the coffee table, her tail swishing to and fro every so often. The canine's eyes found him quickly, and she licked her nose, ears lifting, but she didn't get up to greet him.

He pushed his hair from his eyes and approached the couch, leaning over the back of it to find Tifa lying there. She was on her side, head pillowed on one arm. Her other arm was draped over her swollen middle, her hand absently flipping channels with the remote. His large t-shirt was working hard to cover her stomach. Her eyes were half lidded and not paying attention to the television. She looked exhausted and miserable.

"Hey." He greeted quietly, reaching down and stroking her arm.

She turned her head to look up at him. "Hey." She fought a yawn, "Did I wake you up?"

He shook his head, "No, the cold side of the bed did." He smiled tiredly. "Everything okay?"

Tifa exhaled in slightly exasperation. "Loaded question."

Indeed it was, Leon knew. When she wasn't coming or going from the bathroom, she was being kept awake by the baby kicking her. The pregnancy weight had been causing back pain. She was practically drinking Pepto Bismal to combat the heart burn, and her ankles and feet had swollen painfully. She was uncomfortable and tired, he knew.

"Fair enough." He said, continuing to trace his fingers along her upper arm, trying to provide some comfort, however incremental.

Tifa set the remote down and lifted a hand to push her hair back. "I'm just ready for her to come out, already." She looked down at her bulging belly.

She wasn't due for another two weeks, but Leon could hardly believe that the baby could possibly wait that long. Tifa looked ready to pop as it was and she could barely make it down the stairs on her own—not that Leon left her alone long enough to try it by herself.

"I doubt we'll get much more sleep after she gets here." He offered lightly.

Tifa put her hand on her stomach. "No, but at least then I won't have a tiny foot kicking my ribs all hours of the night."

Leon smirked. He had felt the baby moving around, kicking and punching, when he put his hands on Tifa's stomach these past few months, but he couldn't imagine what it felt like for Tifa. It was a weird thought.

"How about I make you some tea?" He offered. "That usually calms her down."

Tifa shifted onto her back awkwardly on the couch. "That would be great."

Leon bobbed his head and turned to do just that. Duke hauled herself to her paws and stretched, rear end up in the air as she did so. Having that accomplished, she trotted out after him, following him down the stairs and into the kitchen.

He habitually moved around the pre-packed luggage sitting by the front door. They had had enough run-ins with false labor over the past month to put him in a paranoia. Even though Tifa had convinced him that she wanted to have the baby here, in their home, he was a man always with a back up plan. Neither of them was fond of hospitals, so when Aerith and Tifa had discussed alternative deliveries aside from the hospital, it hadn't taken a huge amount of persuading.

The only real hang up had been that Leon knew his biological mother had died from complications just days after he himself was born. Tifa had undergone every kind of testing and health counseling and check-ups known to the Alliance, and there had been no evidence that she was anything but a perfectly healthy first time mother, nor that the baby was anything but a normal-sized, healthy girl. But again, he was paranoid lately.

As evidenced when he heard Tifa shuffle into the bathroom upstairs and he poked his head out into the hallway until she closed the door.

Leon hardly bothered with the kitchen light as he maneuvered around Duke. He started boiling water for the tea, rubbing his neck as he waited. They were to be the first of the Restoration Committee to have a child, and while Leon enjoyed being the first of anything, it also meant that there wasn't much encouragement spoken from experience from any of the others. Cloud had been great about tending to Tifa when missions or meetings absolutely tore Leon away from her during this third trimester. Then somebody had worked some magic to put Leon on the no-fly list for missions, which meant he couldn't leave Radiant Garden. He figured McCallister had had a hand in that, and he appreciated it.

His bad knee felt sore and he rotated it absently as the kettle began to whistle. Duke sniffed at his leg, her cool wet nose making him twitch a little. Pouring and preparing two cups of tea for them, he emptied the rest of the hot water into an insulated bag. He figured it might help loosen the muscles in Tifa's back that were causing the additional discomfort. He made his way back upstairs just as Tifa was waddling out of the bathroom.

The basketball-shape of her stomach made his chest flutter slightly. The fact that they were going to be parents—and very soon—was growing and growing and growing in his mind until lately it had been all that he could think about. The doctor had told them that the shift of the weight from higher on her stomach to hanging down lower meant that the baby had dropped—consequently that labor wasn't too far off.

Definitely not this 'two weeks longer' nonsense.

"Kudos." He greeted as he walked back into the den on the second floor.

Tifa was easing herself back onto the couch. "Huh?"

"The first time you've gotten out of the couch by yourself in a week, and I missed it." He said good-humoredly, handing her one of the mugs of tea.

He unconsciously lifted a hand to prevent Duke from jumping up onto the couch to join Tifa. He knew it was unnecessary. Duke had been following Tifa around like…well, like a loyal dog…since the beginning of Tifa's second trimester. She even tried to hop up into bed with them at night. No matter how many times Leon shooed her, every morning they would wake up to the dog snoozing at the foot of the bed. Despite those attempts to be closer to the pregnant woman, Duke had never actually jumped ON Tifa. The canine sometimes even seemed to avoid getting that close.

Strange mutt.

Tifa snorted, trying to get comfortable. "Smart ass." She spotted the water bag in his other hand. "What's that?"

He set his mug of tea on the end table and lifted up the bag. "Hot water bottle. For your back. Might help." He offered.

Tifa took the bag thoughtfully and maneuvered it under her back. She shifted side to side a little to adjust to it and sighed. "Thanks."

Leon smirked and moved around the couch, getting an idea. Tifa put up no resistance when he lifted her knees and sat down on the couch, letting her legs rest back across his lap, hanging off the edge of the couch. She did, however, look surprised.

"What're you doing?" She asked.

He picked up the remote, which had fallen to the floor. "You know I can't let you allow our baby to listen to midnight infomercials." He flipped the channel.

She snorted, but questioned again. "Leon…You should go back to bed. Don't you have a meeting in the morning?"

He shrugged, settling on an old episode of Star Trek. "No I shouldn't, but yes I do."

Tifa looked at him flatly. "How is this better?" She gestured to the television.

In response, Leon merely took up one of her swollen ankles and commenced a foot massage. It was by far the most effective thing that was able to distract Tifa for the last few months. And, to be honest, he had gotten pretty good at it. Tifa immediately dropped her head back onto the armrest, relaxing her shoulders, and sighed contentedly.

"This is good TV." He commented, now that he knew that she didn't care in the least about what was on the screen.

For several minutes, they remained like that. Tifa was reclined across the couch, her legs in Leon's lap, while he massaged each of her ankles and feet in turn. Duke had resumed her spot on the floor, and the Starship Enterprise continued to explore new worlds for two commercial-free episodes. Tifa seemed to doze off a few times, but she never completely fell asleep, even after going through half of the tea.

"Oh you're a foot massage god." Tifa mumbled after a bit.

Leon smirked and kissed her ankle. "Glad to serve."

She huffed lightly. "I mean it. You've been great this whole time. And I'm sorry about that sexy woman you married. I think I ate her." She remarked flatly.

Probably because he was really tired, that remark got a laugh out of him.

"Don't be ridiculous. You're just as sexy as ever." He commented.

"Leon, you are a lot of things. A good liar is not one of them." She snorted, setting her tea mug on the floor.

Leon canted his head and then moved up to kiss her knee cap. "You're carrying our child." He kissed her stomach. "You officially win Most Beautiful Woman forever." He kissed her lips.

Tifa returned the kiss and he felt her smile, before she abruptly broke it. "Ow."

"What?" He jumped up like he was on springs. "What's wrong? Was it a contraction?"

Tifa grimaced and sat up a little. "No, Leon, watch your blood pressure." She reached under her back and tugged the water bottle out. "The lid dug into my back."

Leon deflated, taking it from her. "Oh."

"Leon?"

"Hm?"

She pointed up at him. "Your anxiety is showing."

Flustered, he slumped down to sit on the floor in front of the couch. "Sorry."

She chuckled, "No, it's cute." She reached out and ruffled his hair.

Given that this was the most relaxed that she'd been in a week, he let the annoying ruffling slide. She paused and looked past him, at the screen.

"But our child is not watching this."

Leon followed her gaze to where a new episode of Star Trek was starting. "Blasphemy, woman. This is classic."

"I don't care. Our daughter's bed time stories will not consist of Jean-Luc Picard versus the Borg people." She remarked.

Leon gave her a look of mock-offense. "They're actually not people. It's the Borg collective. All of the beings consist of one mind, and when—"

Tifa waved a hand and pressed a finger to his lips. "Shh, okay, sorry."

"Yeah, you better be." Leon said, enjoying this brief escape from hormonal, temperamental, uncomfortable, unpredictable, my-body-is-a-time-bomb Tifa to the more whimsical, relaxed version. He took the leniency of the atmosphere and looked at her stomach, addressing the baby directly. "Your mom doesn't know what she's talking about, but don't worry. I'll teach you all about the Enterprise."

Tifa placed her hand on the side of her stomach, "Aaand, she's kicking again. Well done, Dad." She remarked, rubbing the spot.

Leon smirked and reached up, covering the spot with his hand. A little thump greeted his palm. It made him feel giddy. Like he and his unborn child had just high fived or something.

Okay, he really needed to get some sleep.

"Live long and prosper, right?" Tifa snickered at him.

Leon nodded, looking back at her. "Are you coming back to bed?"

"Well, she's either going to kick me while I'm on the couch or kick me while I'm in bed. At least there's more room in bed." Tifa said, gingerly sitting up. "Make it so, Number One."

Leon helped her to her feet and turned off the television. Duke yawned loudly and trotted after them as they walked back to the bedroom, pausing outside the nursery next to their room. It was painted and furnished. There were still a few things that needed to be hung up and assembled, but the room looked pretty ready to meet its future occupant. Soon, it wasn't just going to be the two of them anymore. Free time would go out the window. Restful nights would cease to exist—more so than they had now. Diapers and baby food and toys and blankets…they were going to accumulate everywhere. They were probably going to get spit up on several times, woken up at all hours of the day and night by screaming and crying. Duke was going to feel neglected.

Aerith and Cloud would be so jealous, he snickered inwardly.

Tifa sighed and shuffled on toward the bedroom with a muttered, "Gotta pee again."

Leon chuckled, watching her waddle toward the adjoining bathroom in their bedroom. He looked back into the bedroom, at the half-assembled crib, and the letters forming their unborn daughter's name on the wall: Mikayla. Yes, in less than two weeks, everything was going to change forever, and quite honestly, he couldn't wait.

"See you soon, munchkin." He said quietly, stepping out of the nursery and closing the door after himself.

Duke was sitting beside him, and she swished her tail once. As soon as he closed the door to the nursery, the dog apparently lost interest and went back to stalking Tifa. Leon shook his head after the canine and made his way back into the bedroom. His limp had come back now thanks to the awkwardly late hour, but he stuck it out until he flopped back into the bed. The clock on the side table said that it was a quarter past two in the morning.

Tifa climbed back into bed also and they got comfortable again, with Leon's arm resting around her stomach. A gentle thump met his fingertips, and he smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

High five.

..:-X-:..

A/N: I don't always write fluff, but when I do, people usually get cavities.

This…I don't know. I just…don't even. I don't usually write fluffy stuff—intentionally anyway—but Papa!Leon just makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Combine that with caretaker!Leon (which the prompt specifically called for) and this might as well be Hurricane Dawww. It should also be noted that I'm surrounded by pregnant people in my life right now, so that also fueled the fire on this one.

And yes, I'm a Trekkie, ergo Leon is slowly being morphed into a Trekkie as well. In earlier stories, I made light references to it, but now it's just out there, dancing naked for all the world to see.

I regret nothing!

\V/